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Procurement Challenge: Delivering Cashable Savings from Procurement and Commissioning
In 2011, Dacorum
Borough Council and Three Rivers District Council, along with Watford
Borough Council, took up the Improvement East challenge to drive down
their combined 2010/11 expenditure of £71M through joint procurement
activities, new sources of cashable savings and better shaping of
markets.
David Gardner (Director of Corporate Resources and Governance) at Three
Rivers and Sally Marshall (Corporate Director of Finance and Governance)
at Dacorum were pleased with the outcomes. The initial workshop
established the tone of the study for David. "It was very thought
provoking for all of us when we realised just what was involved in
procurement, particularly how different markets operate and how
suppliers might perceive us". With large scale regeneration plans in the
pipeline, Sally was particularly keen to understand how well her
authority was prepared to oversee large projects.
Both reports have now been signed off by officers and have the full
support of Elected Members. Although there are specific recommendations
for each authority, there are recommendations for far more shared
sourcing and contracting. Analysis showed that 17% of the combined £71M
annual spend was through suppliers common to all three authorities and a
further 15% to at least two of the three authorities. Although this is
early days, both authorities are keen to adopt the recommendations and
have begun the process. Once implemented, the potential savings are
£1.4m.
Cecilia Tredget said: "We are very pleased with the outcomes of our
procurement challenge work so far and are confident that more of our
authorities will soon be benefiting from what we can provide them."
For more information about the Procurement Challenge please get in touch
with Eddie Gibson, Senior Programme Manager, Improvement East - eddie.gibson@improvementeast.gov.uk / 01284 758310.
Read the full story here.
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| LATEST NEWS: |
Local Growth Campaign: commercialising innovation
The East of England is UK plc's innovation heartland and a critical economic engine. There is also huge potential to better-exploit the local economic and job-creation potential of innovations, similar to some global and European competitors.
As part of its local growth campaign, the Local Government Association is working across the country to examine how local government, working with partners in LEPs, universities and Government, can overcome local barriers to growth. The focus of work in the East of England is in commercialising innovation.
With a strong network of innovation hubs, specialist networks in the renewable energy and life sciences sectors and world-leading academic institutions, the nature of public sector support has to be focused and coordinated.
A free seminar provides a valuable opportunity to shape the new-generation of support with a line-up of top-class speakers. Taking place on Thursday 16th February from 4:30 - 7pm at the SmartLIFE Centre, Cambridge, contributors include:
- Sir Tim Wilson, on the outcome of his review of university-business collaboration for Government;
- Dr Robert Swann, on his experience in commercialising innovations and work at the Greater Cambridge, Greater Peterborough Local Enterprise Partnership;
- Luke Owen, on the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills' model for providing public sector support for innovation through the Technology Strategy Board;
- Simon Coward, on how local authorities and businesses come together to drive local innovation hubs, drawing on his leadership of the Hethel Centre in Norfolk.
You can view the full programme and sign-up via the Association's website or email charlotte.bendall@eelga.gov.uk.
Read More...
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Legal service collaboration project launches new services
On Tuesday 24th January, the Legal Services Collaboration project showcased to colleagues from across the region two new web-based products that are designed to help authorities reduce the cost of their legal services.
These services, hosted on the Legal Services Collaboration project's own web-site (http://www.legalservicescollaboration.com/) are an Internal Market-Place for legal resources and a Counsel Database which enables swift and easy fee comparisons to be made across a large number of barristers' chambers.
Both services are free to access for local authorities in the East of England who are looking for either barristers or are seeking assistance from suitably qualified colleagues in other authorities. A small fee is charged to authorities who wish to "advertise" their staff on the Internal Market Place - this is used to support the maintenance and administration of the service.
Read More...
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Localities to come forward with proposals for decentralising strategic transport funds
With Government signalling its intention to decentralise the prioritisation of local major transport decisions, local authorities and local enterprise partnerships (LEPs) are invited to come forward with flexible proposals to transform local transport decision-making which will improve infrastructure and unlock local growth.
The EESAL Group of county and unitary leaders has already emphasised that the relationship between local transport authorities and LEPs will be for local determination. With many of the East of England's most important transport links (e.g. A14, A11 and A12) cutting across LEP and local authority boundaries, flexibility is critical. The consultation also calls for the highest standards of transparency and democratic accountability in taking decisions. It stresses too that the process should be as efficient as possible, keeping new bureaucracy to a minimum.
The consultation also reveals Government's preference for allocating funding on a purely population basis. This may mean that rural areas - like much of the East of England - do less-well than densely-populated cities. With much of Government's planned national spending on transport infrastructure like HS2 and Crossrail already seeing economic benefits concentrated on the core cities, this imbalance risks being compounded.
The Association is working with transport managers, Portfolio-Holders and DfT colleagues so proposals come forward that press for further decentralised roles, such as on rail franchising. Close links to the LGA's Economy and Transport Programme Board through Councillor Shona Johnstone (Cambridgeshire CC and Vice-Chair of the Board) also mean the specific circumstances in the East of England are reflected in national activities. Portfolio-Holders will examine this in greater detail at the Regional Transport Forum on 9th March in Chelmsford.
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35 councils in the East of England join collaborative e-learning project
VineEast is an ambitious project, funded by Improvement East and sponsored by East of England LGA and Essex County Council. It is based on VineEssex, a project originally devised and managed by VineHR (a company formed by the Heads of HR in Essex).
The ambitious aims of Vine East are:
- To achieve a regional e-Learning platform - "VineEast" - to drive improvements and efficiencies in e-learning across the East of England
- To promote the sharing and collaboration on e-learning content and provision to eliminate waste and duplication of effort where ever possible
Each authority gets a individually tailored platform with unlimited licences with functionality for e-learning, as well as setting up online communities within their authority. In addition each authority receives licences for an authoring tool called Composica: this authoring tool allows design of e-learning of the highest level (this is the first time this high spec product has been used in the public sector).
A central VineEast platform enables people from across the region can upload and share pieces of e-learning to save money and reduce duplication. In addition, on line communities will enable people to work collaboratively sharing resources, learn on line, raise standards together.
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Suffolk secures ?375K of EU funding to promote healthy and active ageing
A Suffolk County Council led consortium - including partners from Spain, Denmark, Germany and Italy -has been awarded ?375k from the EU's PROGRESS Programme to improve understanding of how best to help 45 - 65 year olds maintain their good health.
The consortium was supported throughout the bidding process by the East of England Brussels Office and the EU Connects service.
The PROGRESS 2WARDS HEALTHY AGEING IN EUROPE project will involve universities, public authorities & health services from across Suffolk working with international partners to develop and uncover innovative approaches to healthy ageing.
The project has already begun to identify businesses to help deliver the project goals through the promotion of workplace based health initiatives. Planning is also underway for a transnational conference to be hosted in Suffolk in 2012.
Please contact Paul Laffin at paul.laffin@east-of-england.eu for further information.
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Council comes together with Health colleagues to address key health issues for the people of Cambridge
A seminar hosted by Cambridge City Council with colleagues from the local Clinical Commissioning Group and Public Health, with support from the East of England Local Government Association, resulted in a consensus and shared commitment around moving forward to address some of the key health issues for the people of Cambridge. Delegates were able to meet each other, many for the first time to find out about their organisations and to think about partnership working going forward.
As a result of the meeting it was agreed hat a small group would get together to discuss the
formation of the Local Health Partnership. The partnership would focus on a small number of strategic issues where
it could make the greatest difference.
This seminar was part of the Association's support to Local Authorities to help engage with the health reforms.
Read More...
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New Talent Bank Co-ordinator appointed
Following the launch of the Talent Bank in October and a steady rise in interest, we have now appointed Nika Watt as the new Talent Bank Coordinator to help us develop the service so that we can successfully meet the requests for specific expertise.
The Talent Bank is an association of highly experienced professionals available to local authorities and their partners. It also includes individual advisory offers such as; procurement diagnostics, service reviews, health checks and HR procedures and investigations. 'Talent Bank' associates are provided on a flexible day-to-day rate, short project or a longer interim assignment basis. It is jointly delivered by Improvement East and the Regional Employers' Service which is part of the East of England LGA.
To find out more visit www.eelga.gov.uk/talentbank
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New version of 'You and Your Contractor'
The newly updated edition of 'You and Your Contractor' written by Andy Davies (Director of the London Universities Purchasing Consortium) can be downloaded here. Packed with tips and hints on managing contracts, this document is a must for any public sector organisation.
There are also a few spaces left on the Improvement East procurement training programme for 15 May - Contract and Relationship Management. Click here to find out more.
This is one of a series of Procurement training events being run by improvement East throughout 2012. Details of these event can be found on our events pages.
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Embedding Ambassadors in Community Health - the EACH project
The EACH Project, being headed up by the Strategic Migration Partnership Team, aims to build skills and confidence in NHS frontline staff delivering healthcare to new third country migrants. Its focus is on improving NHS access for women from Asian and African countries in particular.
A series of interactive workshops will be delivered across the region over the next three years, to over 600 NHS staff by representatives of local Black and Minority Ethnic Community Organisations. There will be no charge for attendance, and the sessions will include raising intercultural awareness and working effectively with interpreters and translators in healthcare settings - subjects that all NHS staff should be competent and confident in.
The EACH team recruited sixteen local organisations to develop and deliver the workshops during autumn 2011, and has subsequently run a number of 'train-the-trainer' updates for them, as well as building up an EACH network of workshop leaders across the region.
Read More...
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East of England Public Health Observatory (erpho) launch new commissioning support products
Fingertips, the online indicator website from erpho (http://fingertips.erpho.org.uk), has been updated with new and revised indicators, especially within the child health section.
Fingertips is a rich source of indicators across a range of health and wellbeing themes, with specific sections on child health, adult social care, health inequalities and substance misuse.
You can browse indicators at top-tier local authority and PCT level for the East of England, benchmark against the East of England or the England average, and export data and graphs to use locally. It is designed for commissioners in local authorities, PCTs and CCGs, Fingertips can be used alongside your JSNA and to help track progress in population health improvements.
Read More...
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Sustainability East appoints Climate Change Adaptation Co-ordinator
Sustainability East has appointed a Climate Change Adaptation Coordinator, Clare Merritt, to work with stakeholders within the East of England. This role is a joint one with Anglia Ruskin University, but Clare is based within Sustainability East. The work forms part of the Climate Change Skills Fund project on Developing Adaptation.
Clare is managing and facilitating a stakeholder network around climate change adaptation for the East of England. Working in partnership, she is continuing to build the evidence base and narrative for adaptation for the East of England, as well as identifying case studies and examples of good practice and innovation.
Clare's role is part of the Low Carbon KEEP project at Anglia Ruskin University, which is a unique funding opportunity available to small to medium sized companies (SME's) within the East of England. The funding aims to support collaboration between SME's and research providers, in order to carry out 'low carbon' projects.
Clare can be contacted at clare.merritt@anglia.ac.uk
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| EVENTS & LEARNING: |
Save the Date: Nations and Regions East - Rising to the Challenge 2012 Summit
Nations and Regions East will be hosting the 'Rising to the Challenge 2012 Summit'. The Summit will take place on 20th March from 12 noon until 4pm at the Newmarket Racecourse Rowley Mile Conference facility.
With just over 4 months to go to the London 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games on that date the conference provides an excellent opportunity to gain updates on progress and will consider how we can effectively achieve post Games legacy. To register your interest to attend please email your contact details to NRE@katcreativ.co.uk
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Commercialising Innovation
Date: 16th febraury 2012, 4:00pm - 7:00pm
Venue: SMARTlife Centre, Cambridge
As part of the LGA's Economy and Transport Programme Board's work to better understand the economic challenges and potential of different parts of the country, the East of England LGA is hosting an event to examine the role of local government in helping to exploit the full commercial potential of innovations.
The full programme will be confirmed shortly, but we expect to secure input from academic leaders, entrepreneurs and local government representatives involves in supporting innovation work, such as through the Hethel Centre in Norfolk.
This free event will be open to all senior members, officers and partners from LEPs. Its outcomes will contribute to a LGA Green Paper on the future role of Local Government in shaping thriving local economies.
Further information is available here.
Find out more and book a place... |
Procurement Series: Turning third party expenditure information into cashable savings
Date: 9th February 2012, 9:30am - 1:00pm
Venue: Homerton College, Hills Road, Cambridge, CB2 8PH
Improvement East's series of procurement events is back for 2012!
Improvement East presents the new Procurement Series - a monthly series of events throughout 2012, covering a range of procurement topics, at locations across the East of England.
Find out how you can update your skills and knowledge to get the most out of your procurement processes and deliver those efficiency savings by attending one or all of these FREE events.
This session will cover:
- The core data elements needed for basic expenditure analysis
- The importance of data quality and the correct use of controlled classification and coding
- The key data required for searching and what trends and clues to look for
- Expenditure forensics - working off line with other data
- Using expenditure data for category management, supplier relationship development, collaboration, improved negotiation and other strategic procurement approaches
- Sharing information with other local authorities
- Setting priorities and understanding resource implications
Find out more and book a place...
Visit the events page on the Improvement East website to see the full series of events. |
Procurement Series: Understanding Category Management in the public sector
Date: 15th March 2012, 9:30am - 1:00pm
Venue: West Suffolk House, Western Way, Bury St. Edmunds, IP33 3YU
Improvement East's series of procurement events is back for 2012!
Improvement East presents the new Procurement Series - a monthly series of events throughout 2012, covering a range of procurement topics, at locations across the East of England.
Find out how you can update your skills and knowledge to get the most out of your procurement processes and deliver those efficiency savings by attending one or all of these FREE events.
This session will cover:
- The key stages of category management
- A guide to the main principles
- How to select the best categories to apply it
- How to make the business case
- Getting buy in from service departments
Find out more and book a place...
Visit the events page on the Improvement East website to see the full series of events. |
Portfolio-Holder Networks
The Portfolio-Holder Networks enable councils, through their political leadership, the opportunity to collaborate on a number of important areas of policy. Further details on the range, purpose and operation of these network can be found here.
These meetings are exclusively for councillors with a responsibility for the particular area of focus and there is no charge for attendance.
Dates and details of future network events can be found here. |
Training
We run a range of training opportunities for elected members and for officers on key skills and issues, such as change management, performance management, equalities, member appeal panels and bullying and harassment.
Our regular training programme can be found here.
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| USEFUL INFORMATION ABOUT THE EAST OF ENGLAND LGA: |
East of England Brussels Office
The European Team, based in Brussels, helps councils and other partners engage with Europe, signposting potential partnership opportunities, providing key information and obtaining increased access to European funding. To find out more visit: www.east-of-england.eu
Employers' Services
Employers' Services provides a range of tailored human resources, learning and development and organisational development support to local councils and the wider public and voluntary sector. To find out more visit: www.eelga.gov.uk or contact: valerie.seaman@eelga.gov.uk
Improvement East
Improvement East is the Improvement and Efficiency Partnership for all 58 local and fire and rescue authorities in the East of England to help deliver better services for local people as efficiently as possible. To find out more visit: www.improvementeast.gov.uk
Strategic Support
Strategic Support works to maintain and improve the liaison between member councils and Government Departments/agencies and facilitates engagement in the transition processes of key policy areas (for example sector self regulation, economic development or public health). There are also a range of externally funded campaigns and projects which sit within this function of the Association. To find out more visit: www.eelga.gov.uk
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